Pill Maker Bullies The Boss ( Stopped )

A Sweet Slap

Jin raised his brow with a look of surprise when he heard the host.

Although Jin was aware of his foster sister’s good grades, ranking 6th in the country during the National Quiz Contest’s preliminary test went beyond being ‘good’.

She was truly a straight-A student and the goddess of studying.

Eunha remained calm and modest as she answered the host’s questions unhurriedly. “The preliminary test results mean nothing. I will continue to do my best and perform well for the final quiz so as not to disappoint any of you.”

The host beamed widely as she changed the subject and started interviewing the other members of the group.

Jin stopped watching the interview. Instead, he fished out his phone and texted Eunha on WeChat.

[Congratulations on coming 6th in the country.]

Eunha happened to have her phone with her at the time.

When she saw Jin’s text, she thought for a few seconds before she replied: [Thanks, Brother Jin. Cute face emoticon. How did you get to know about my result?]

Jin smiled and replied: [I just saw you on a variety show.]

Eunha’s fingers paused, then she wrote: [Haha, does Brother Jin watch dumb shows like these? I thought you checked it on the official website for the quiz.]

Jin could not help asking in surprise: [Does your quiz have an official website?]

Eunha narrowed her eyes and replied: [Of course. If you want to check on a student, you need to enter his or her candidate number, or else it’s simply too much trouble to scroll through the entire ranking list. After all, there are so many middle school students in the country who participated.]

Jin wrote: [That’s true. When’s the next round? Don’t forget to tell me about your scores.]

Eunha sent another cute emoticon over and wrote: [Sure thing. The next round happens next week. I’ll text you when my scores are out.]

Jin replied: [Good luck!]

Song Chaerin yelled that lunch was ready, so Jin stopped chatting with Eunha and put his phone away. When he stood up, he glanced at Lisa shutting her book calmly.

The cover page of the book was entirely in English without a single Chinese annotation. It looked like serious reading.

Jin was startled. Despite his relatively good command of English, he was incapable of figuring out the subject of the book at a glance.

His younger sister was able to look so engrossed reading this English book. She had been undistracted even when he turned on the television.

She was simply too pretentious.

If Lisa was reading a normal English textbook, he would have thought nothing of it, but…

Fine, she sure was very good at acting studious.

Jin shook his head speechlessly and headed to the study to tell his father that dinner was ready.

*

At the dining table, Song Chaerin ignored her firstborn son and kept placing food in her daughter’s bowl.

“Lili, eat more. You’ve been reading so much that you’ve lost weight,” said Song Chaerin heartbrokenly.

The other kids hung out with their friends over the weekends, but their daughter just kept studying. If this went on, Lisa would genuinely become a nerd.

When Jin heard Song Chaerin saying that Lisa had been studying hard, he cast a weird look at her.

Everyone read books that were related to their middle school studies. But what was his little sister reading?

He could not bring himself to appreciate his mother for this unconditional indulgence of her daughter.

Since Jin did not want to listen to his mother go on exaggerating about Lisa’s studies, he changed the subject and asked her casually. “Didn’t Lili sign up for the National Quiz Contest? How did you fare in the preliminary test?”

Jin looked at Lisa and continued to speak without waiting for her reply. “Eunha signed up for the quiz too. Her results were pretty good and came in amongst the top 10.”

He did not say Eunha came in 6th, so as not to embarrass her.

Lisa’s eyebrows twitched slightly but she didn’t speak up.

Song Chaerin and Huo Jiyong did not seem surprised at all when they heard this. Instead…

“Oh, Eunha did pretty well,” said Song Chaerin as she nodded patronizingly.

Huo Jiyong also commented rather calmly. “Eunha always did well in school. It’s no surprise that she made it into the top 10.”

But no matter how well Eunha did, she could not surpass their daughter!

After all, their girl scored full marks and came in first!

When Jin saw his parents’ lackluster response towards Eunha’s results, he raised his head to look at them. They had reared and doted on Eunha for over a decade after all. Even if she was not their daughter by blood, they did not have to be so unenthusiastic about the whole thing.

Were they worried about Lisa’s feelings because she did not perform as well as her?

Jin twitched his lips. But the moment the thought crossed his mind, his father’s voice quickly reached his ears.

“Our Lili is the best though. She transferred from a small county middle school and scored full marks before she even acclimated to the city’s education system. She has made our family proud!”

Huo Jiyong was beaming and looked honored. His face had the expression which seemed to say, ‘I have the smartest daughter on earth’.

“That’s right. She came first in the country!” said Song Chaerin excitedly with her chin raised in pride.

When Jin heard his parents, he raised his head to look at them in shock and asked in a whisper. “Full marks? Top in the country?”

Song Chaerin innocently blinked when she detected Jin’s disbelief. She said, “Yes, that’s right. Didn’t I tell you about it?”

Huo Jiyong solemnly glanced at his wife. “It might have slipped your mind.”

“How can that be? Doesn’t she have awful grades?” Jin blurted out instinctively.

Song Chaerin raised her brow as she glanced at her oldest son and asked him. “Who told you Lili had bad grades?”

She clearly forgot that she used to think Lisa had lousy grades too.

Jin was confused for a moment.

“If you don’t believe us, then go and check online. The ranking list appears the moment you run a search,” sneered Song Chaerin.

She was clearly expressing her disappointment over her son’s distrust towards his younger sister.

The moment Jin heard his mother, his face went so stiff that he almost could not keep his chopsticks upright. He did not reach for his phone to check the ranking because he knew that his parents would never joke about this.

Complicated emotions ran through Jin as he glanced at Lisa while she quietly ate.

He had always thought that his little sister was a bad performer and even believed that she obtained the No.1 Middle School Acceptance Letter through unsavory means.

When Jin first heard that Lisa signed up for the National Quiz Contest, he had thought she was messing around because of his preconceptions about her. He had believed that he was doing her a favor by offering to hire a tuition teacher for her. When she turned him down, he had judged her for being arrogant and for aiming too high.

Jin’s lips curved into a mocking smile. He found his misconception of his little sister hilarious now. He was also taken aback about the way she had said nothing all this while, even though she was a straight A-student.

If Lisa had told him even a little about herself, he would never have misunderstood, and the two of them would not have fallen out like this.

Perhaps due to the embarrassment that Jin brought upon himself, he found the food unpalatable. Maybe he did not know how to face Lisa, so the moment his phone rang in his pocket, he made some excuse and left for the office in a hurry without finishing his food.

Song Chaerin glanced at the main entrance and muttered softly. “Isn’t it the weekend?”

Huo Jiyong raised his brow and said in a vague manner, “He’s just embarrassed.”

Song Chaerin looked quizzically at her husband.

Huo Jiyong only smiled without speaking any further.

*

After Jin went downstairs, he did not start the car right away. Instead, he pulled out his phone and ran a search for the National Quiz Contest on the web browser.

He entered the official web page very quickly and found the rank listing before long. After entering the page, he effortlessly found that Lisa had come in first with a score of 150.

Jin’s eyes hovered on the screen for a long time before he started to move his fingers. He caught sight of Eunha’s name after he scrolled further down.

If Jin had not brought up the topic of the quiz and his parents did not tell him about his little sister’s score, he might have gone on presuming that she had lousy grades. He might even have kept feeling proud of his foster sister instead…

When Jin recalled his recent attitude, he pulled his hair in frustration before throwing his phone aside and driving off.

It was just a preliminary test, so it was no big deal.

**

On Monday

Lisa was called to the Principal’s office as soon as she got to the school.

“Lisa, long time no see,” said the Principal as he beamed at Lisa the moment he saw her. He seemed particularly warm and courteous.

Lisa bowed and politely greeted him. “Hello, what did you need me for?”

“I’ve been caught up with work since the school term started and then went on a business trip. I didn’t expect that rumors of you using connections to enter the school would spread like this.”

The Principal’s face sank and he continued apologetically. “It’s all my fault that this misunderstanding arose. I didn’t put my point across to the teachers clearly enough. Don’t worry, Lisa. I’ll clear your name.”

Lisa looked at the Principal in surprise.

She composed herself and shook her head as she replied in a calm manner. “It’s okay. Since the rumors are unfounded, they will stop in time. The more I defend myself, the more suspicion I arouse.”

The Principal was stunned. He did not expect such nonchalance from her. Then again, geniuses like Lisa usually did not really care what others thought about them. He was the one… who seemed narrow-minded now.

Lisa continued speaking with an ambiguous smile. “Wouldn’t it be a bigger slap on their faces if I used my ability to prove myself?”

The Principal smiled as he shook his head. He walked over to the water dispenser and got her some water. He said, “I feel optimistic about your results for the National Quiz Contest.”

Lisa took the glass of water and mulled over something before she spoke next. “I hadn’t signed up for the quiz.”

The Principal coughed uneasily and gestured to her to take a seat. He said sheepishly, “I was the one who signed up on your behalf.”

“I believed that this quiz would be easy for you,” sighed the Principal.

The Principal had chanced upon Lisa, online purely by coincidence when she successfully solved all the toughest test questions from the most renowned schools in the capital.

Many students spent ages trying to solve them but failed. Yet the moment she laid her hands on them, she answered them effortlessly as though they were elementary school questions. She was capable of applying what she learned, exceptionally well.

She had almost caused the collapse of many college education systems, but no one knew her real identity.

If not for the No.1 Middle School’s online admission test, she would have probably never gotten exposed as the 17 year old girl who gave those colleges such a headache.

It was also a stroke of luck that he managed to invite her to join the No.1 Middle School. Since she was planning to study in City S, and it was the best middle school in town, she had taken an interest in this school.

Of course, the Principal had no idea that she would actually pick the No.1 Middle School in the end.

The Principal’s inexplicable trust in her made Lisa helplessly say, “I only want to study hard.”

The Principal twitched his lips and replied. “There’s no conflict between the schoolwork and the quiz.”

“But why did you want me to take part in the quiz?” asked Lisa bluntly.

The Principal adjusted his spectacles and told her. “Although we have managed to maintain the school’s enrolment rate in recent years, it’s clearly declining…”

He paused for a moment before he said somewhat bitterly, “I want to improve the No.1 Middle School’s reputation.”

Lisa flashed an okay sign and said, “I get it.”

The Principal did not have to beat around the bush since he was talking to an intelligent person. He looked at Lisa and pondered for a few seconds before speaking further. “The significance of this quiz isn’t as simple as it seems. If you do well, the capital’s major associations might try to headhunt you. It will do wonders for your career in the future.”

Lisa raised her brow and was somewhat surprised.

The Principal smiled and said, “Staying at the No.1 Middle School is beneath you, given your talent. There isn’t much I can help you with either.”

Lisa waved and said lazily, “You don’t have to do more. You’re doing enough.”

Then she stood up. “It’s almost time for class. I’m going back.”

“Sure,” replied the Principal without speaking further.

But when Lisa stepped out through the door, he suddenly said, “I didn’t tell anyone about what happened online.”

Lisa halted. She gave him a sideways smile and left.

There was a profound look in the Principal’s eyes. The warm expression on his face suddenly turned downcast after Lisa was completely out of sight. He walked over to his office desk and picked up the landline to make a call.

Although the young lady did not care about clearing her name, it did not mean he would condone it when people stirred trouble in his absence.


In the blink of an eye, it was time for the National Quiz Contest’s official heats.

The city level heats were all conducted at the city’s Education Center instead of the participating middle schools.

Lisa did not need to attend school this morning and headed straight to the exam hall.

Song Chaerin and Huo Jiyong had woken up early in the morning when they learned that their daughter was to appear for the quiz today. They even prepared a more sumptuous breakfast than usual.

All of them headed downstairs after breakfast and they kept asking Lisa endlessly about whether she had everything she needed while they were in the lift.

Her parents looked so nervous that it seemed as though they were preparing for war. Lisa did not know whether she should cry or laugh.

She consoled them and said, “Mom and Dad. It’s just a little quiz. No need to get dramatic.”

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